No Largo da Achada

On the top edge of the Largo da Achada, there’s a sheltered alley with a staircase and a few private gardens in a public space. Space is seldom entirely public or entirely private in the old town of Lisboa. There’s also one of the dozens of casas de ressalto existing in the city. These are residential buildings, mostly hailing from the 15th century, with overhanging timber-framed floors, leaning over streets and alleys. A clever way of expanding your real estate, which finds its counterpart in the modern marquises. Clever, but dangerous, as most of these overhanging floors collapsed during the 1755 great earthquake. Despite legislation prohibiting them, they were promptly rebuilt, of course. They now pose picturesquely, waiting for the next big one.

Author: Pedro Loureiro

I was born on the southwestern-most tip of Europe, in Lagos, Portugal. A childhood of legos and sandcastles led me to architecture school, but an adolescence of doodling drove me to sketching and later to illustration. I like to sketch, to travel and to chop vegetables into tiny manageable bits.
I also like maps. The older the better!
View all posts by Pedro Loureiro